Reviews

The Trigger: The Hunt for Gavrilo Princip - the Assassin who Brought the World to War by Tim Butcher

neuroqueer_af's review against another edition

4.0

I wanted a book that told Gavrilo Princip's story. I wasn't disappointed in this regard; Butcher even goes as far as visit Princip's descendants in the village where he spent his childhood and find his school records in Sarajevo - fascinating stuff. Parts where the author diverged from the teenage assassin himself were a bit more hit-or-miss. While it is interesting to see how Princip viewed now, in the lense of Bosnia's recent history, many of these asides seemed to be an excuse for the author to delve into some self-indulgent travel writing that didn't always benefit the text's main thread.

gwencl's review against another edition

informative sad medium-paced

4.25

danco1103's review against another edition

reflective medium-paced

4.0

leslielu67's review against another edition

4.0

This is not just a book about Gavrilo Princip, the assassin that launched WW1. The author was a journalist during the 1990s Balkan War and knows a thing or two about that seemingly eternal tinderbox. He literally traces Gavrilo's paths in through the country, and while doing so delves into the 1st Balkan War, Austro-Hungarian rule, WW2, Tito's rule, and the massacre at Srebenica. Spolier: Butcher concludes that Princip (a Bosnian Serb) was acting for all Southern Slavs, not just the Serbs, when he assassinated Franz Ferdinand - the hope being to throw off rule by Austria-Hungary - but politics uses Princip's actions as a justification to attack Serbia and get the powder keg rolling. [Very good audio reader.]

jeffburns's review against another edition

5.0

Butcher travels to rural Bosnia to begin the story of Princip, a boy from a poor subsistence farming family whose descendants still live in the tiny village, much as they have for generations and follows his path from there to Sarajevo, then Belgrade, then back to Sarajevo for the fateful act. Butcher is a great storyteller and a consummate old-school journalist, and it comes through in his work. First, he immerses himself in research and then he talks to people and faithfully tells their stories. However, the book is not just about the assassination. Butcher himself was a war correspondent who covered the Balkans in the 1990s. He manages to weave the story of the assassination into the intricate fabric of the Balkans, a region shaped by hundreds of years of conflict. It’s a great read.

kittic's review against another edition

4.0

A solid 3.5 stars rounded up to 4 stars. This book was more a travelogue than a history book, peppered with interesting and often traumatic anecdotes from the author's time in the Balkans during the 1990s war and of course historical accounts of the life of Gavrilo Princip. I particularly enjoyed the author's account of the archival records related to Princip.

thebonski98's review against another edition

dark informative reflective tense medium-paced

3.5

xxstefaniereadsxx's review against another edition

informative slow-paced

3.0

 Gavrilo Princip was born in 1894 in Bosnia. He was Serbian, which is a Southern Slavic ethnic group. His parents had nine children, he was number two, but six died in infancy. In 1908, the Austro-Hungarian empire annexed the slavic states. A lot of student groups were formed in the wake of that in these states, including Bosnia, that promoted nationalism and anti-imperialism. Princip was exposed to these groups and ideals, as well as communist and anarchist writings. He joined the group Young Bosnia. He attended a demonstration against Hungary in 1912 that ended up with him getting roughed up. He threatened other students at school who were unwilling to participate in the demonstrations against Hungary, and all those shenanagins caused him to get expelled from school. He traveled around a little bit, landing in Belgrade, where he discovered that Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife, Duchess Sophie, would be in Bosnia. He made the decision to lead a group to assassinate them. Princip shot the Duchess in the abdomen and the Archduke in the neck. He then swallowed some cyanide pills, but they did not kill him. He was arrested and tried for his crimes, but was too young to be executed. Instead, he was chained to the wall of the prison, where he suffered from tuberculosis and generally horrible conditions.

I can understand why people in countries that are invaded and taken over have negative feelings. Most of the time, it is a negative experience. I think it is a shame that they tried to bury him an an undisclosed, unmarked grave because they were worried his bones would be made into a shrine for those who were anti-imperialist. There are several historical markers and monuments, and his body was recovered and properly buried. Of course, the impact of his assassinations were felt all over the world and involved more aspects than just the annexation of slavic states. This is a good book for those interested in the start of World War I. I really enjoyed it. 

welshrebel1776's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

1.5

anniegroover's review against another edition

2.0

I just couldn't get into this book. After 100 pages I skipped ahead to the actual assassination. I got so bogged down in the history and the author's travels that I had a hard time staying engaged.